Bilingual

Credit: RDNE Stock project from Pexels Worldwide, there are more children who grow up learning multiple languages than children learning only one. And yet monolingualism is often taken as a starting point, for example in school. Research by linguist Elly Koutamanis shows that the two languages of a bilingual child are always active in their brain. "A child can benefit from this bilingual knowledge at school." Koutamanis will…

Researchers examined the quantity of maternal speech, how mothers elicited conversation in their children, child conversational participation, and the ratio of maternal-to-child utterances. They also tested whether heritage culture would be a source of any observed differences. Credit: Florida Atlantic University Children who hear a language other than English at home currently make up more than 25% of the school-aged…

Hollywood star Robert De Niro wants his daughter to learn both Chinese and English. The 80-year-old actor who has adoptive daughter Drena, 52, Raphael, 47, and 28-year-old twins Julian and Aaron with ex-wife Diahnne Abbott as well as Elliot, 25, and 11-year-old Helen Grace with second wife Grace Hightower, welcomed baby girl Gia earlier this year with his Chinese girlfriend Tiffany Chen. He told Rolling Stone: "Yeah. Half-Chinese. I want to try to teach her Chinese and show her nursery rhymes in English and Chinese.…

Credit: CC0 Public Domain People who speak two languages may be better at shifting their attention from one thing to another compared to those who speak one, according to a study published this month in the journal Bilingualism: Language and Cognition. The study examined differences between bilingual and monolingual individuals…

As a recent Apple convert, I was surprised by the ecosystem's capabilities. That is, until Siri tried to read notifications in Spanish.In 2021, I decided to take the plunge and switch to Apple with the iPhone 13 Pro Max. Ever since then, it’s been rare for me to leave the house without my AirPods. As someone who loves listening to music, they allow me to do so in a comfortable and portable way. Aside from pure ergonomics, though, I’ve grown fond of the hands-off experience with my phone, especially during long walks or a…

With the iOS 17 public beta and a reissued build of developer beta 3 now available, Apple has added a very important feature to its personal assistant: supporting bilingual queries. Although the company is at least five years late to this party, it’s great to see the Cupertino firm really expanding Siri’s capabilities. The information was shared by TechCrunch. The publication explains that, for now, iOS 17 beta adds support for bilingual queries to Siri starting with select Indic languages. That said, users…

iOS 17 Public Beta 1 — the testing version of Apple's upcoming iOS software update — is rolling out to eligible iPhone models. The update allows users to test out new software features and apps that will be available to all users later this year. Along with features like the new StandBy ambient display mode and updates to FaceTime and Messages, Apple has also introduced new features that are aimed at users in India, according to a report. This includes support for bilingual requests to Siri using Indian languages. The…

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain Participation in environmental education programs can motivate children across diverse language groups to act responsibly toward the environment, a recent study from North Carolina State University researchers suggests. In the study, researchers surveyed 644 elementary school children about how…

Credit: Antoni Shkraba / Pexels When parents learn their child has a developmental disability, they often have questions about what their child may or may not be able to do. Children with developmental disabilities, such as Down syndrome, often have challenges and delays in language development. And for some families, one of these…

CEO of Google and Alphabet, Sundar Pichai, on Monday highlighted investments in AI that the company shared at Google for India event to make India's digital economy more inclusive, helpful, and safe by introducing a multimodal AI model that covers 100+ Indian languages, ML-powered bilingual search results pages (launching in India first), support for a new centre for responsible AI at IIT Madras. Speaking at the 8th edition of the Google for India event, with Ashwini Vaishnaw, minister for Railways, Communications and…